Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine (DICOM) is a standard for e.g. handling and transmitting medical imaging information. It includes a file format definition and a network communications protocol. The communication protocol is an application protocol that uses TCP/IP to communicate between systems. DICOM files can be exchanged between entities that are capable of receiving image and patient data in DICOM format.
DICOM provides different services, most of which involve transmission of data over a network. One such service is query and retrieve (DICOM-QR), which enables a workstation or another DICOM QR-enabled device to find lists of images or other objects and then retrieve them from a remote unit such as a PACS, or another DICOM QR-enabled computer.
DICOM-QR is therefore commonly used in cases where patient images and data are transferred.
The DICOM-QR has, however, certain limitations. Usually, a user interface provided on a DICOM QR-enabled device allows a user to enter data specifically adapted to the query-retrieve service, e.g., the user ID of a patient.
It would be useful to provide extended functionality through the DICOM QR-enabled device's user interface.